First of all thank you so much to Marissa Meyer, Macmillan, and NetGalley for making this sample available.

Wow! I’m itching to finish the whole book right this moment. Meyer’s weaves a spellbinding story about fairy tales told through the eyes of an ever-optimistic storyteller, Serilda, who’s always searching for the good in others despite the harsh world she’s trapped in. Where others would despair, she sees opportunities and hope.

Serilda tells stories with grim endings and dark plots, not to inspire fear, but with the desire that her stories will brighten children’s imaginations. Despite the beautifully gothic-eqsue setting of Gilded, the story so far is whimsical and brimming with faith. Whether Serilda holds onto her hopeful nature is unsure, but I'm certain I will be rooting for her.

I am so excited for this book to come out! This sampler really has me wondering what is coming for our main character! I love this world that Meyer has brought to us, it seems really interesting and magical. I can't wait to find out what happens to our main character. She is definitely a character I instantly am rooting for!

I really enjoyed this excerpt and I enjoyed the main character so far, she is strong and smart and witty and I am excited to keep reading about her journey.

The plot is interesting so far and I know Meyer will take it somewhere I never could’ve expected. I will be buying the book when it comes out and I hope a lot of people will.

I will be reviewing the full copy since I have received it now. No offense to this copy, I just don't want to have to review the same thing twice :P.

*Sampler Review*

Cue “Gimme More” by Britney Spears because I am SO READY for the rest of this book!

Let’s unpack what we know so far from the plot…

Serilda loves to tell tales. She loves telling the stories she heard from her father growing up that feature the Erlking and the Wild Hunt. She even has a craft for taking bits and pieces of those stories and weaving them into something new. She can spin a story with such precision and care that even she can get lost in discerning what is true. Unfortunately, Serilda’s stories are not widely well received for the people in her town see her as cursed and a born liar.

One night, Serilda wakes up with a start, hearing unique howls in the distance and the sound of voices just outside the cottage her and her father share. Burden by curiosity, she creeps out of bed and makes her way outside, closer to the voices. She discovers two moss maidens who are fleeing from the Wild Hunt. As in THE Wild Hunt from her stories! Serilda offers the moss maidens protection and hides them in her cellar. Suddenly, the Wild Hunt is upon her and she comes face to face with the Erlking. In an attempt to save her own skin, she explains to the Erlking that she is out at midnight to harvest the straw to spin to gold. The Erlking accepts her excuse (as poor as it might be) and the Wild Hunt leaves.

On the following full moon, there comes a knock on Serilda’s door. Her deception has caught up with her and Serilda is taken by a member of the Hunt back to the Erlking’s castle and presented with a dilemma. Unless she can spin straw into gold by the next morning, Serilda will pay for her lie. Sitting in her cell with piles and piles of straw around her, a mysterious visitor appears with a way to help Serilda keep up her deceit…for a price.

These questions still remain:
Why does the Erlking want Serilda to spin the straw into gold?
Who is this mystery boy with promises of magic?
Will Serilda manage to find her way back home?

Some initial thoughts about our protagonist, Serilda…

Serilda is fun and engaging. Her interactions with the students from the school might be my favorite thing about this book so far because it’s just so delightful and precious. She will also put herself in harms way to help others, like with helping the moss maidens. She’s also incredibly ballsy and quick witted which are qualities that aided her well. She is everything you could possibly want in a protagonist character and compelling enough to truly root for as the story progresses.

Marissa Meyer is the GOAT (greatest of all time) when it comes to fairytale retellings, in my humble opinion. So far I am loving that this retelling is a bit grittier and darker than her past retellings. I also don’t have much original context for the Rumplestiltskin fairytale or the Wild Hunt, so this feels brand new and I don’t know what to expect! I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on a finished copy come this November! I can’t wait to see what happens with Serilda, the Erlking, and this mystery boy!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this extended sampler in exchange for my honest review!

Wonderful sampler! I cannot wait until this book comes out so I can read the whole thing! Such an amazing story!

This extended preview did nothing but make me anticipate the release of this book even more than I already had. I already know that I love Meyers writing, so I can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes!

This book is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. The main character Serilda is a spinner of stories. In this book she finds herself in a predicament after spinning one story too far past the truth. This sampler started off slower but picked up towards the end. I did preorder a copy of the book after reading the sampler. I’m excited to finish Serilda’s story.

I received an extended sampler from Net Gallery in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity. I could give back more feedback with the full book but gah it ended at a cliff hanger for the sampler people! I loved the descriptions of what she sees and how she makes up her stories as she's thinking. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Oh what a teaser this was. I can not wait to get the full copy of this as it was so good and left me wanting more.. Even though it was a sample of the story I still really enjoyed what I read. the characters had grit and were fully developed. This has a bit of Spinning Silver vibes and I really liked that book as well.

Excited to continue this story! Meyer is definitely on her A game here with a unique character voice and evocative settings that pull the reader right in.

I was excited to be able to get the chance to read this extended sneak peek of Gilded.

I received a sample through chapter ten in exchange for an honest review, Thank you NetGalley.

The book revolved around Serilda a poor farm girl that blessed or curse to tell beautiful extravagant stories until one day she met up with a hunting party, a Fractured fairytale based on Rumpelstiltskin. I love how Marissa Meyer weaves folklore into her fantasy story, she has a seamless way of bringing life to the old stories.

Cannot wait to continue this book upon release!!! Great Job Marissa Meyer!!

I love Meyers precious work. The Lunar Chronicles was one of my favorite ya scifi series! So when I saw she had a new work coming out I was immediately intrigued. Unfortunately I was only able to get my hands on a sampler and not the full book. But it’s all good. I look forward to reading the full book later this year. Meyer is not disappointing.

Thanks to Netgalley, I was gifted the opportunity to read the first ten chapters to the upcoming Gilded from Marissa Meyer.

Gilded is a fairy tale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and the spinning gold from straw. The sampler ended with, who I presume to be, Rumpelstiltskin appearing before our Main Female Character, Serilda.

So far, I will be picking up the book when it is released because I do want to continue the story and see how it plays out (and how it is told). I am a fan of Marissa’s previous works and this book seems to be another well written story from her.

The first chapter did start out a tad slow, but it quickly gained my attention by the second chapter.

As the description for the book suggestions: this is about an eighteen year old girl (Serilda) who is cursed by the god of lies and has a pension for telling stories. On a night of a Wild Hunt, she tells a story (lie) to the Erlking in an attempt to help two forest maidens - only for him to have her brought to him at a later time to test her story.

The story being tested is the premise of Rumpelstiltskin - Serilda told the Erlking that she was able to spin straw into gold. She now has until an hour before sunrise to spin the straw in her cell into gold. This is where the tenth chapter stopped, with Serilda begging for the straw to turn to gold and a mystery man appearing in the room with her.

And, I cannot wait to read the rest of the story.

This retelling of Rumpelstiltskin takes the story in a dark, intense direction. The main character Serilda seems strong and confident. Her penchant for telling tales gets her into a scary situation but she seems to be remarkably unbothered. The story takes a little while to get going and the sampler ends just as the story gets going. Still, it promises to be a dramatic twist on this familiar tale.

Rumplestilskin but make it woman!

Have you ever told a lie or bluffed and got called out? Now you’re humiliated and feel like crap? That’s pretty much Serildás story up until Chapter 10, *which is the end of the exclusive sampler I received though netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I love Serilda’s over the top character and her storytelling! She spins story after story until one day the story of her being able to spin straw into gold gets her in very deep trouble. It catches the attention of the Erlking and now she has to pull through and actually do it, or be put to death. I love the characters that are introduced so far and I genuinely can’t wait to read the rest of the story!

In the last page, yes in the very last page of chapter 10, *cries*, we are introduced to a freckley boy who’s introduction is whimsical and magical. I cannot wait to see how their relationship develops because Serilda needs all the help she can get!

Based on the sampler I feel this book has old-fairy tale vibes, for those who enjoy that I think this will be a perfect fit. I, for one, cannot say I am fully sold but I am intrigued so it's a good start.

Marissa Me he can do not wrong and I cannot wait for Gilded to release so I can finish this story!!!!

In true Marissa Meyer fashion, we begin with a hard headed female protagonist. Let's face it, this has a lot to do with why I enjoy her as an author. Serilda lives in a rural village where she doesn't quite fit in with anyone except the children that she helps with at the schoolhouse. While other girls in town master the art of the spinning wool, Serilda is spinning the most elaborate stories, geared directly toward her audience! Going onto this, we know this is a Rumpelstiltskin retelling, so you may be wondering who will be this over exaggerated character? YEP! It's Serilda! So yeah, pretty excited for a retelling that is also a genderbent story. Serilda and her big mouth end up getting her caught in the web of the Erlking, who until recently she believed to be a legend intended to scare children into not wandering off into the woods. In these first 10 chapters, we already have rise and fall with excitement while getting an introduction to this new world. I love how Marissa Meyer is always able to give us characters that we care about immediately while providing world building that happens completely organically and never feels forced. Anyone who enjoys fairy tales or twists on classics should pick this one up. I'm very much looking forward to reading the rest of the story when it's released.

There's a lot of children's dialogue in this excerpt, and I don't think Meyer quite nailed it — like she was being so careful to avoid baby talk that she went a little too old. Nevertheless, it was pretty enjoyable and convinced me that I do want to read this book after all, so I suppose that makes it a good opening.